Modern vehicles, and in particular cars, often come equipped with autonomous or semi-autonomous systems for performing various maneuvers of the vehicle. One such maneuver which preferably is performed automatically is a parking maneuver. The parking maneuver may be a park-out maneuver where the vehicle moves out of a parking lot or parking space, or a park-in maneuver where the vehicle moves into a parking space.
When maneuvering a vehicle with the driver on the outside, it is important to ensure that an automated system controlling the vehicle secures that the vehicle performs a parking maneuver safely.
Currently available parking systems may require that the driver uses a handheld device such as a smartphone to continuously send a “keep-alive” signal to the vehicle in order for the vehicle to perform the parking maneuver, and in some cases the parking maneuver is also preceded by pressing a button on a specific remote control. Accordingly, it is possible to be reasonably sure of that the vehicle only performs a parking maneuver as a result of an intentional action by the driver.
However, there are several potential risks associated with the described system. For example, an operator may tend to adopt the most convenient behavior when performing the parking maneuver, as when performing any task. The operator may for example send the “keep-alive” at a remote distance from the vehicle and without actually seeing the vehicle, in which case the safety of the parking maneuver is only ensured by the sensor systems of the vehicle. Even though proximity detection systems in vehicles are constantly improved, they can not be relied upon to discover all objects in the vicinity of the vehicle under all circumstances.
A further potential risk lies in the possibility that a smartphone is hacked or exposed to a man-in-the-middle attack in which case the “keep-alive” signal can be replicated without the knowledge of the operator.
Accordingly, even though presently available automated parking systems for vehicles are capable of safely performing a parking maneuver, there are still risks and there is also a reliance on the operator of the vehicle to behave in a specific manner. In view of the above, there is still a need for improved methods and systems for automated parking where the safety of the parking maneuver is further increased.